Pressure-responsive device.



H. P. THOMPSON. PRESSURE RESPONSIVE DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28, 1910.

2 SEEMS-SHEET 1.

Patented Dec! 6,1910.

H. P. THOMPSON. PRESSURE RESPONSIVE DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.28, 1910.

- Patented Dec. 6, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' To all wh'om itmay concern:

, UNITED .BTA E i ATE oFFIoE.

HUGH PER/nouns: rnomnson, or-cnrcae anLrNors.

Specification of Letters Patent-.;

ransscaamsmNsIvE DEVICE,,,

Appiication filed February 28, 1910. Serial No. 546,460.

Be it known that I,[IIUGH Pnnnonn'r THOMPSON, a subject of the Kingof England, residingat Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented;

q certain new and. useful Improvements in Pressure-Responsive Devices, of which the followingis a specification. Y

My invention relates to improvements in. 'gpressure-responslve devices, and has for its ob ect to prov de a, device responsive to variations in the pressure of some prescribed area, operable to effect positive, complete excursions of a moving part under-predetermined high and low critical degrees, re-

spectively, of the pressure in such area,

which I will herein term the controlling or prime pressure, the variations of which are to be utilized.

In many environments it is desirablethat pressure conditions insomeprescribed area may not exceed a given maximum, or fall below a'given minimum, and my invention provides a responsive device so appositely and positively operable-at the redetermined critical limits of the variab-c controlling pressure in some prescribed. area that the action easily may be utilized to govern other mechanisms, such, for instance, as the mechanisms by which pressure is admitted to or engendered in the prescribed area in whichthe pressure variat on is to be limited.

In itsbroad' aspect, my invention contemplates the provlsion of a pressuremovable element, acted upon in one direction bya suitable determinate force, preferably apf plied by a power. element, such, as a spring,

and'acted upon, in the other direction by the variable controlling pressure, in arrangement' such that 'the effective area of said movable element exposed to the fcontrolhn'g v pressure increases as the element moves away from the power dOm1I1atQd pOS1t10Il under the influence of the ,maxlmum controlllng pressure, whereby said element may'efiecta positive and com lete excursion toits t er- 'minal pressureominated osition; and

conversely, the exposed area ecreasesas the element moves from pressure-dom1nated position back toward power-dominated os1- tion under the influence of a. drop 0 the prime pressure. to a determined minimum value.

In the drawings, Figure 1'; represents an embodiment of my invention shown in, vertical cross-section with the moving parts in t cal cross section with, the parts in pressure- "online 3 3 of. Fig. 2;

- Specifically on-m one direction by a substantially con stant, orarbitrary force, preferab ly that appl ed "by a spring, 12, as a power element,

variable fluid pressure, "which I-rnay term the controlling pressure, supplied from a suitable prescrlbed'area, as a pi e, 13.

'low. minimum desired value,- the plunger 10 of its .strok'e,'or as I will term itrdistincvalue ofthe varlable controlling pressui'e, said plunger stands at the opposite extreme of its stroke, as shown in Fig. 2, or in pressure-dominated. position.

The essential arrangement which I provide is suchthat the effective area which the plunger exposes to the variable controlling said positionto the other or pressuredomin'ated position, the area exposed by" the plunger to the controlling pressure-when in dominated positionbeing greater than that whichit exposes in travel back to its, first said extreme position.

Specifically, the casing body, 11, provides a chamber, 15, surrounded by a horizontal area b enables the plunger to be forced positively and completely to its opposite limit of movement. (See Fig. 2.) In rising,

the plunger opens chamber 15 to a lateral power-dominated l position, supplemented With a. diagrammatic representation of 00-" operating parts illustrative .of one useful application of my invention-;Fig. 2 is a ve r- When the' variable pressure .s at or bestands as indicated in Fig. 1, at one extreme of the plunger from the area a.- to the Patented Dec. 6,1910.

dominatedposition; and F1 g.,3 is a section;

1O indicatesa e'r'ar ranged ln ag shell or cylinder,'11, an "acted,

and acted on in the opposite direction by a i tively, in power-dominated I position, whlle at, or above the desired maximum.

pressure, when it is in power-dominated position is lessthan that when in travel from shoulder, 16, on which the flat bottom of the plunger may seat when the latter is, in

the edge of the upper or head chamber, 20, of

' the casing somewhatbefore the upper limit of movement of the plunger is reached.

The head chamber, 20, providesat its upper end an annular horizontal seat, 21, preferably formed on a cylindrical bonnet, 22, screwed into the unitary body of the casing; and within the head chamber the plunger is provided with a head or enlargement, 10, of diameter .0, adapted to seat on the'part 21. If desired, a superposed extension, 10", adapted to fit snugly into the spring cylinder, 22, may be provided on the plunger, and arranged to effect its entrance into said cylinder, 22, just as channel 19 of the plum ger begins to clear the edge of the head chamber. Obviously, as the plunger completes its upper stroke, the controlling pressure is communicated through duct, 18, and channel, 19, to head chamber 20, so that whenhead 10 seats against seat 21, and the tertiary area 0 is effectively exposed to the variable controlling pressure, maintenance of the lunger in its raised or pressuredominatetl position is insured until the controlling pressure falls appreciably below the critical high pressure point at which its action on primary area a wassufiicient to dominate the opposed spring pressure. When, however, the controlling pressure drops to a minimum critical value at which, acting onarea a it is no longer able to balance the power or spring pressure the spring 12 unseats head, 10, from seat 21. Instantly, the pressures on opposite sides of the head enlargement 10 balance, so leaving effectively exposed to the controlling pressure only the secondary area, b and accordingly the plunger makes a positive, complete, quick stroke back to power-dominated position, thereby scaring the plunger on shoulder or seat, 16, and reducing the efiective area to the primary area a.-

The extension 10 serves merely to prevent momentary free escape of fluid under pressure from pipe 13 to atmosphere by the channel 17, duct 18, head chamber 20, and

opening 23 in the spring housing, while the plunger is in transit, but practically this refinement may be omitted as the movements of the plunger are small and its velocity and momentum suflicient to make such leal age slight and negligible.

structurally the apparatus described is simple. The casing body may be made as a unit, and the casing bonnet, screwed thereonto.

The plunger, 10, may have a stem, 25, integrally or otherwise connected thereto to be guided in a cap, 26, adjustably mounted in the bonnet, 22, to act as an abutment for the spring, 12, surrounding stem and said cap may be locked in adjusted position by a nut 27. For applying power to the work in hand, obviously, the stem 25 might be suitably utilized, or the variation in pressure in head chamber, 20, may be employed, said chamber being subject under one condition to atmospheric pressure,-":i'nd under the other condition to the pressure of pipe 13. Also, obviously, the work of the device might be utilized anywhere where it might be desired to govern operations of other mechanisms to conform with maximum and minimum critical pres lies in the prescribed area.

In the single exemplification of a practical utilization of my invention shown in Fig. 1,

I provide a port, 30, opening to head chamber 20, communicating through pipe, 31, with diaphragm chamber, 32, controlling a balanced steam valve, 33, of the supply pipe for engine, 34, operating a pump, 35, which supplies fluid under pressure by pipe, 36, to pressure tank, 37, communicating with pipe 13. These parts are, of course, only diagrammatically shown. Under the conditions shown in Fig. 1, the balanced valve is open, the engine and pump are in operation, and the controlling pressure is increasing. Say at 55 lbs., for example, the pressure on area a overcomes the spring 12, and slightly lifts the plunger off its lower seat. Instantly, such pressure, acting now on secondary area"b, snaps the plunger to its opposite limit of movement or pressuredominated position, and further holds it there by application of such pressure on tertiary area c This controlling pressure communicated to the head chamber and through the port 30 to the diaphragm chamber 32 actuates the diaphragm to close valve 33, the engine and pump stop and the controlling pressure is restricted to this maximum critical valve. Assume, now, that controlling pressure becomes reduced in the tank to say 50 lbs., as a desired minimum. Spring 12, overcomes 50 lbs. pressure on area a and at once the effective area exposed to the minimum controlling pressure is reduced to the secondary area b and therefore the plunger snaps back to initial power-dominated position. This cuts head chamber 20 off from communication with pipe 13, and opens the said head chamber to atmospheric pressure through apertures 23. The diaphragm, 32, ceases to act, as the pressure thereon is reduced to atmospheric pressure, valve 33 springs open, engine, 34, and pump, 35, start up, and the pressure rise toward maximum is begun again.

\Vhile I have herein described a simple and eifective structure which I have found in practice to be effective and satisfactory, it will be apparent that changes might be made in the specific construction without departure from the spirit of my invention and within the scopeoi the appended claims.

What I claim is: I

1. In a pressure-responsive device, a casing, a movable element therein, exposed to a variable controlling pressure'for movement thereby in one direction and toadeterminate force acting in the opposite direction for movement thereby in said direction, said. element being arranged to expose to the controlling pressure when in its transit from one extreme position to the other an area greater than that which it exposes when in one limit of movement and less than that which it exposes When at its other limit.

2. In a pressure-responsive device, a casing a movable element therein exposed to a variable pressure for movementin one direction and to a determinate force actingin theopposite direction for movement thereby ,in

V said direction, said element being arranged to expose to the variable pressure when at one extreme of movement an effective area less than that which it exposes in the course. of its transit toward the other extreme of movement, and conversely to expose to the pressure when at its second extreme of movement an efiective area greater than that which it exposes to said pressure in the course of. its transit back toward said extreme of, movement.

3. In a pressure-responsive device, a casing, a reciprocatingplunger therein and a power device tending to move the plunger in one direction,- there being an opening for communication with a source of controlling pressure to oppose the power device'at one end of the casing, saidcasing providing seats for the plunger at opposite extremes of its range of movement, and the plunger and easing being'arranged so that the area BXr posed by the plunger to the controlling pressure in its transit from'one extreme of move-" ment to the other is less than the area exposed to said pressure when at one extreme of movement and greater than the area exposed to said pressure when the plunger is at its other extreme of movement;

l. In a pressure-responsive device, the com bination of a casinif providing a main cham her and a" head chamber,.a plungerhaving a cylinder portion in the main chamber and a head portion in the head chamber, saidtc'asing providing reduced seat for the plunger at its lower extreme of movement and a seat for the head at its upper extreme of movement, an adjustable s ring for operation in conjunction with said plunger tending to force it to its lower-extreme of movement, there being a controlling pressure'inlet at the end'of the casing opposing the spring and passages for communication from said controlling pressure inlet to the head chamber when the plunger is at its upper extreme of movement, whereby 't he plunger exposes a minimum area to pressure when 1n its lowest position, a maximum area to the pressure when in 1ts upper position, and an intermediate area to the pressure when in transit between the two extremes.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a casing providing a body having a, lower area of one diameter, an intermediate area of a second diameter, and a head chamber of largest diameter, and a detachable upper bonnet providing aguide,

a plunger in the casing structure providing a stem guided by said bonnet, a spring be tween the bonnet and the plunger providing g a head within the head chamber,"and said casing providing upper and lower" seats for the plunger, such that the area, of the plunger exposed to the lowest chamber is less than that exposed .to .the intermediate chamber when the plunger is in'transit,.and that the'head area exposed to the head chamber when the plunger is at its, upper limit of l movement is greater than the area which is exposed when the plunger is in transit, there being in the casing and plunger-structure the lower chamber to the head chamber when the plunger is in its uppermost position, whereby in the transit of the plunger from lowest to highest position the exposed area verse movement of the plunger the exposed area thereof may decrease.

6. In 'a device of the character described,

a casing providing a lower area of one diam- '90 passages-for communicating pressure frometer, and'an head chamber of greatest area, a plunger for movement within said casing arranged when in its lowerposition to ex: pose a minimum efiectlve' area to; pressure,

when in transit from lowest position to ex-- pose an intermediate effective area.- to pressure, and when in its uppermost positionto expose a greatest effective area to pressure, adpistable means for resisting movement-of. the'pliinger from lowest touppermost position normally maintaining the plun er in lowest position with minimum area -0 pressureex osed, there being a controlling pres-- sure in ct to the lower area of the casing,

passages "for. pressure communication from.

95 of the plunger may increas'e, and withre- 100 l eter, an intermediate'area of a greater diam 

